


Coronation

by Liebelit



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 18:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14062713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liebelit/pseuds/Liebelit
Summary: Written in 2015.





	Coronation

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 2015.

The day of DG's coronation was a beautiful day full of hope and high spirits, and it was right up there with the eclipse as one of Glitch's proudest moments.

Ever since he had been reunited with the missing part of his brain, his glitches had clearly decreased and his synapses had been firing correctly for the most part, but his memories were still haphazardly struggling to come back to him. Today though, he felt particularly lucid and like he was on top of his game again, the best he had felt in annuals. Beside him, Cain was standing as part of the special guests lineup in the back of the podium, and he looked as good as Glitch felt. The old clothes had been discarded in favor of a sharp new royal guard uniform, which contrasted nicely with Glitch's advisor garb, and his handsome features were proudly trained on DG, the brand new Queen of the OZ that they had both been sworn to protect. 

Aside from discretely stealing glances at the former tin man every now and then, Glitch was also admiring the bright young woman about to be crowned who looked so much like her mother in that moment. 

And that was probably why the memory of a day like this one many annuals ago came rushing to his mind when his oldest friend declared, "I present to you your Queen, Dorothy Glinda Gale!"

 

"I present to you your Queen, Lavender Ozma Gale!"

The previous Queen of the OZ, the daughter of Ozma the First, had just passed her throne over to her only daughter; and Ambrose stood with other high ranking officials ecstatic with pride and excitement for his oldest friend who he considered a sister. 

After Lavender had given her inaugural speech there was to be a ball which would be attended by the royal court and officials, by nobles and other members of high society, and by working men and women of the city's key institutions. Among those were affiliates from the University, representatives of various banks, and the most recent batch of graduates of the tin men academy. 

It was on this last group that Ambrose set his eyes on as he expertly cruised through the throngs of high class people with glasses of champagne in their hands and expensive suits and dresses on the their backs. Having been part of the noble circle since he had been taken in by the royal family, practically all his life, he was already well enough acquainted with the court, the nobles, the affiliates, the representatives, and all others in a position of wealth and power. But it was the group of new tin men, regular working men and women from the city, who sparked his interest that day. 

These were the people who truly protected the citizens of the OZ, who would give their lives to do their job right and were honorable and brave. They were nothing like the greedy and corrupt cowards that Ambrose had sometimes encountered while working with some members of the 'higher' class. 

While he had been studying, he had had the chance to meet some regular people at the university like his friend Leona, people who hadn't been handed everything in a silver platter. For the most part however, he hadn't interacted much with them, always buried in his studies and extracurricular work and hobbies as he was; but he admired and even envied their freedom to do as they pleased and carve their own path. 

Despite his young age he recognized that sometimes there was too much work and duty ingrained in his life and he wished for the opportunity to 'loosen up' as Leona would say, so he figured the tin men might provide some insight to a different part of life with which he wasn't familiar. 

However, he couldn't forget what this celebration was actually for and so he set out to find the host.

"Congratulations, Vela!" Ambrose said to his friend, beaming with joy when he could finally get to her after she had spoken with some of the most powerful people in the OZ, "I'm sure you'll be the greatest Queen yet."

"Ambrose, there you are!" She smiled at his use of her old nickname and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, but you know it's I who will be saying congratulations next week when you're declared my advisor; a position you earned through hard work might I add."

"Well there is nothing wrong with inheriting a title, your majesty." Ambrose said lightheartedly, "I just hope I can do my job as much justice as you'll do yours." 

"I know you will, dear Ambrose." Lavender said fondly, "But none of that 'your majesty' business with me, at least not now. I have to go speak to some more people for some time but would you save a dance for me?"

"Of course, your--Vela." He corrected himself at the last moment and kissed her hand, "You'll likely be the only person I dance with too... You know I'm not very popular at these balls." 

"Oh nonsense, you're a darling and people will see that in time. And even if they don't tonight you will at least have a dance with me." With a hug and one last kiss she excused herself and left him to his own devices. 

This, he thought, was the perfect moment to go ask one of the tin men to dance and see if luck was with him that day; so he scanned the men and women in uniform for someone who caught his fancy. 

There were plenty of them with whom he would have loved to dance but one young man in particular stood out to him. The man in uniform was tall and blond, with handsome features and eyes so blue that Ambrose could see their beauty and intensity from where he stood. Not only did he look good in his uniform but he seemed like a genuinely good person too. Or at least Ambrose thought so, and he usually was a good judge of character. 

Decided that this was the person he'd be brave enough to ask for a dance, he started moving toward the blond tin man as confidently as he could. But before he got anywhere close to him another tin man, a woman just as blond and as beautiful, walked up to him holding two glasses in her hands and kissed the man tenderly. It was clear that they knew each other and were together, and so Ambrose watched hopelessly for a second as they kissed before turning away to go get a drink and spend the ball as he usually did; alone and blending into the wallpaper.

Luck, it had seemed, was not with him that day. So he was more than a little surprised when someone approached him a few moments later while he was quietly sipping his wine in a corner. 

"May I have a dance?" The man said as he offered his hand. It was another tin man, also a blond with blue eyes, but unlike the other man this one didn't seem honest and righteous. This man looked mischievous and his gaze and smile felt almost predatory. The feeling Ambrose got about this man was the opposite as with the other blond, but he asked himself if it really mattered so much. After all, he wasn't asking him for his hand in marriage, only a dance at a ball; and it had been ages since he had danced with anyone who wasn't already one of his friends. For a moment he considered taking this tin man's hand, but then he looked over the blond's shoulder and spotted Lavender standing regally amid the crowd without any aristocrats buzzing around.

"Oh, thank you but I'm terribly sorry," Ambrose said as politely as possible, "I promised the Queen a dance." 

"Well, maybe we will dance together some other time, Ambrose. I'm Nick Zero, just so you know." The blond said, introducing himself before he let Ambrose go on his way.  
It wasn't completely unexpected that someone outside the high class circle would know his name, but still the fact that this man knew it sent a chill up his spine and he was glad when he reached his friend.

"May I have this dance, your majesty?" He asked with a sincere smile, 

"Only if you stop calling me that for the rest of the night." She said playfully as she stepped into position in front of him, placing one hand on his shoulder as he took her other delicate hand in his. 

Once they started dancing to the soft but jovial tune of the orchestra it seemed as if the crowd opened before them and left them a place all to themselves, if only to admire their dance. The Queen, his longtime friend, looked radiant in her white ball gown with its subtle fine lavender details and sparkles, like a true work of magic. And there was truly no one he would rather be dancing with at this moment than her. 

As they spun in graceful moves, he thought that she was right. That maybe his only dance this night would be with her, but that someday someone would see him in the way he wanted to be seen. 

 

When Glitch came back to himself after seeing that old memory in his mind, he realized he was being gently shaken by someone.

"Glitch? Glitch, are you okay?" Cain asked as he eyed him in concern,

"I'm alright," Glitch assured him and looked back into his piercing blue eyes with full focus, "Sorry, I blanked out for a moment there, didn't I?" 

"Yeah, you did," Cain said softly, letting his hand fall from Glitch's shoulder but keeping it on his back as a comforting and supportive gesture, "Was it another small glitch?"

"No, it was a memory."

The coronation ceremony was over and everyone present was now moving toward the ballroom to celebrate the historic day as was traditional in the OZ. 

"Want to talk about it?" Cain offered as they walked side by side behind the royal family. As nice as the intention was and as much as Glitch always appreciated when Cain lent him a listening ear, he couldn't really see much point to telling him about this particular memory. It wasn't as if they had met that day so many annuals ago; all it had been was a young aristocrat noticing a young tin man from afar. But nothing had happened at that ball, and telling Cain about it now would only serve to remind him of what he had lost. 

But as he looked into Cain's honest blue eyes when they entered the ballroom and found themselves still clumped together, he couldn't help but want to share his most recently found memory with the former tin man.

"I just remembered the day of Lavender's coronation." Glitch said thickly while Cain guided them to a less crowded corner, "We were so young... And I remembered... I remembered seeing you there, with Adora. And...I remembered seeing Zero there too."

Facing him as Glitch leaned against the wallpaper, Cain just watched him carefully for a long moment before smiling sadly and nodding. "I remember that day too. I saw you while you were dancing with the Queen, but I didn't dare walk up to you and introduce myself. Mostly I just stayed with the other tin men and Adora. We had just graduated a few days before and we were so excited to be there."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not now, but maybe later? You could join me for dinner after the party's over and we can talk about everything we remember?" 

"I'd love to," Glitch said with a hopeful smile, "It's not every day one gets to dine with the Captain of the Royal Guard."

"And it's not every day one gets to dine with the Queen's top Advisor." Cain smiled back, "But for now, may I have this dance?"


End file.
